The staggering speed at which AI can search for and generate content is revolutionising how industries operate. It has emerged as both a vital tool and a potential threat to the workforce. Meanwhile, institutions are scrambling to establish regulations and parameters addressing copyright infringement, plagiarism, and safety concerns. Now that the AI genie is out of the bottle, we are all having to answer the question of how to adapt to it.
In the home renovation industry, AI can be a useful tool in visualizing design ideas for clients and professionals alike. Recently, I asked AI to take a shell of a home’s 3D image and style it to follow mid-century modern principles. The result of the render was astounding! In 30 minutes, with several iterations and redos, it came up with the image here. I instantly fell in love! However, the more I studied the image, the more I could pick out fundamental flaws. The large concrete slab above the front door, suspended without posts, was defying gravity, and the bottom half of the staircase to the front porch extended to the wall of the house for no practical purpose at all.
Did these distortions of structural engineering stand out to you? Even as a veteran renovation professional, it took a second look and a trained eye for me to notice them.
AI currently has a hard time discerning what materials have more weight and therefore what structural considerations are needed to support them. It also has difficulty judging how much space is needed for different functions, what to do with grade changes, and what impact the flow of water can have over the site, or adjacent sites, if not properly managed with permeable surfaces. These are fundamental aspects addressed through thoughtful, experienced design.
AI also has yet to understand designing around human comfort with respect to sun, shade, wind, and the seasonality of when we might desire these elements or want shelter from them. The ability to access the long-term maintenance needs of outdoor elements is lost in AI’s dreamscapes.
So where does AI fit into our landscape industry? It’s a great tool for visualizing a 3D image of ideas in a fraction of the time it would normally take using traditional professional 3D software. One notable AI limitation is that it relies on the knowledge of a human to produce an answer in the first place. A human has to ask the right questions, with enough technical background, to get the most out of it. A human is also then needed to evaluate and double check AI’s accuracy.
This tool can serve to create images and convey a client’s concepts to a design professional. From there, the professional’s role now shifts from providing the initial idea, to evaluating how these elements may get built, what the local setbacks might be, how a design must follow city by-laws, or the limitations of an easement or a property line.
This technology is not yet, and likely will not be, capable of understanding or interpreting a human’s experience in a space. It also cannot replace the professional expertise required to guide a client through a thoughtful design process, and ensure these concepts function effectively in the real world.
AI is a useful tool, and certainly an incredible advancement in technology, but just like spell check or a calculator, a human is still needed to provide the input and apply the answer in a meaningful way.
